Reborn in the 80s, Get Rich by Eating Melons

Chapter 179: Chapter 179 Buying a Bell

Tong Yao: If she knew what these three dogs were thinking, she would definitely need to give them a little thought correction.

The first thing Tong Yao did on the street was to buy three large soup bowls. With three more puppies to take care of at home, she needed to prepare their feeders. She decided she would buy some big bones later. She could feast on the meat and broth, and the three puppies could gnaw on the bones; nothing would go to waste.

Si Xiaohui, carrying the soup bowls, followed Tong Yao out of the shop, unable to hold back her curiosity, "Sister-in-law, you’re not buying these three soup bowls for those three stray dogs, are you?"

Tong Yao led Si Xiaohui towards the Vegetable Market while answering, "Yes, they are for the dogs. They’re no longer strays, so stop calling them that. From now on the black one is Xiaohei, the yellow one is Dahuang, and the one with the black and white fur is Xiaohua."

Si Xiaohui made a face and sarcastically retorted, "Our mom doesn’t even use bowls this nice, but these stray dogs turn into golden worms the moment they arrive at your home, and you even name them." People might think those three stray dogs are your sons, I’ve never seen you treating your parents this well.

Si Xiaohui didn’t dare say the last sentence out loud, thinking her sister-in-law was being too kind to the three stray dogs. Wouldn’t it be better to use the money to buy extra meat?

"Why do you keep comparing our mom to dogs?" Tong Yao rolled her eyes, retorting with an indifferent tone, "Ahchen sends mom money every month, if she’s unwilling to spend it on food and drinks, should we abstain from worldly desires? I see you eating meat and having soup, your appetite seems fine, and you don’t seem to think about our mom then?"

With a few succinct sentences, Tong Yao directly left Si Xiaohui speechless, who didn’t utter a word for a long time, finally murmuring quietly after a while, "I was just making a comment, didn’t mean to upset you."

Tong Yao responded, "Think before you speak next time. I have a bad temper and need to vent when I hear things I don’t like. Otherwise, I’ll be upset."

She paid Si Xiaohui to work, not to meddle or educate her. Considering Si Xiaohui was Si Chen’s sister, Tong Yao was generous and didn’t bicker with her. But that didn’t mean she didn’t have a temper.

Si Xiaohui: "..."

Tong Yao provided her food, shelter, and salary. To put it bluntly, Tong Yao was both her sister-in-law and her boss. The consequence of upsetting Tong Yao was being sent back home.

So, Si Xiaohui tempered her behavior according to Tong Yao’s mood and didn’t dare genuinely anger her.

She kept her mouth shut at that moment.

She enjoyed the comfortable life in the city and didn’t want to screw that up and get sent back to the countryside.

Seeing that Si Xiaohui was behaving, Tong Yao couldn’t help but chuckle secretly. Si Xiaohui was just like that; the more you spoiled her, the more likely she was to get cocky, thinking everyone should spoil her just like her brothers. Things went on smoothly when she was put in her place.

By noon, it was hot as a furnace outside. Tong Yao walked under the shade of trees along the roadside, passing by a hardware store outside the Vegetable Market. A sudden thought struck her, and she walked in, with Si Xiaohui dutifully following her without a word.

Inside the store, Tong Yao went straight to the shop owner and asked, "Do you have any dumbbell bells?"

"Quiet bells?" The shop owner thought he had heard wrong and repeated the question. He did have noiseless bells, which were defective items he had no use for.

"Yes, dumbbell bells, I want three."

Ensuring that he hadn’t heard wrong, the shop owner rummaged in the drawer for a while before getting three grimy quiet bells. He wiped the dust off with a rag and handed them to Tong Yao.

"If you want to buy them, it’s one cent. You can have all three. But you should know, there are no returns or exchanges."

Usually, each bell would cost three cents, and unfortunately, these were defective. If they weren’t sold, they would have been chucked as scrap metal.

"Alright, thank you, boss." Tong Yao took the bells and treasured them in her pocket, then gave the store owner one cent, "Boss, here’s your money."

The shopkeeper took the money cheerfully, "Okay, see if there’s anything else you want to buy."

It was unusual for someone to buy these dusty bells laying in the shop for a long time. Although the selling price was lower than the purchase price, they were useless if no one bought them.

"I’ll come back when I need something else."

Tong Yao left the store, and Si Xiaohui, who was following along, asked once again restrained by her curiosity.

"Sister-in-law, you bought these three bells for the dogs, right? Why did you buy the quiet ones? Who puts quiet bells on their dogs?"

Tong Yao didn’t feel like explaining so much, so she brushed off Si Xiaohui’s question with a simple reason, "The quiet ones are cheaper."

In actuality, Tong Yao was considering the safety of the three dogs. Everyone knew they were strays, so they might bully them. If the dogs had bells, it would show that they have an owner, and as long as the three dogs didn’t cause trouble, people would generally avoid picking on them.

Dogs have a keen sense of hearing, and the sound of the bell would be amplified many times, which isn’t good for their ears if they hear it over a long period. That’s why she bought quiet bells.

Si Xiaohui: Indeed, they were quite cheap, but why did she feel something was off?

When did her sister-in-law become so stingy?

Ignoring Si Xiaohui’s suspicious gaze, Tong Yao walked straight into the Vegetable Market and bought some big bones and vegetables.

When Si Boyi came back to the rented house to cook lunch, the three stray dogs also followed. Tong Yao, who had just finished washing the vegetables by the well, waved at the dogs.

"Come here, I am going to give you guys a bath."

At her word, Xiaohei took the lead in running over with his tail wagging.

Si Boyi and Si Xiaohui watched this scene in shock, especially Si Xiaohui. She never thought these stray dogs could understand human words as if they were called over.

"Sister-in-law, these dogs are so smart! They seem to understand human speech."

Tong Yao, who was pouring water on Xiaohei, didn’t even lift her head, casually saying, "Dogs are very intelligent and loyal. You better not bully them in the future."

"..."

Si Xiaohui sneered, the sister-in-law treated these few stray dogs better than her, a slightly jealous Si Xiaohui took the vegetable plate into the kitchen, and quietly grumbled after seeing Si Boyi following her.

"Second Brother, look at sister-in-law, she treats a few stray dogs better than our eldest brother, she never gave him a bath."

Upon hearing this, Si Boyi’s face turned red, and he chided in a low voice, "Don’t compare our mom and brother with dogs all the time, what’s the fun in that?"

Initially, Si Boyi had some concerns that these stray dogs wouldn’t understand humans and wouldn’t protect their owner. Now seeing them so obedient, his worry subsided.

Dogs who understand humans are the most loyal. He remembered the dog Grandpa Zhao in the village used to have. After Grandpa Zhao passed away, his dog refused to eat and starved to death on Grandpa Zhao’s grave. Grandpa Zhao’s son considered the dog human-like and eventually buried it next to Grandpa Zhao’s grave.

Seeing that Si Boyi was siding with Tong Yao, Si Xiaohui chose to shut her mouth.